The OPTILANGUES method is based on four principles

- Appeal to the long-term memory
- Use of sub-conscious perception
- Development of unhoned capacities
- Involvement of the participant

Using this method, one will be asked to reread at home the dialogues learned in class. But aside from that, no other work is required of one, because the memorization phase starts during class under the direction of the professor.

The intensive usage of the peripheral stimuli, which was carefully studied and prepared, reinforces verbal learning and facilitates long-term memorization.

One of the evident advantages of this method is the high rate of memorization as well as the remnant duration of knowledge, which lasts for several years only declining very little in the case wherein the student has few chances of speaking the language during this period. (Please see comparative table from “Monde de l’éducation”)

The atmosphere, very conducive to learning in the best conditions, prepared and implemented by the professor is essential to the method. The participant is placed in an ideal environment to allow him to learn in an optimum and relaxed fashion.

Aside from an important and fast learning, this also gives one the chance to have very enriching group experiences. This gives the participant a better memory, the desire to continue studying, and the pleasure of communicating in a foreign language.

The Schedule of the Course

The course is for 70 hours, conducted from two to four weeks, with 3 hours and 30 minutes per session. The basic dialogues, which are to be used during the course, are written especially for the suggestopedic course. These dialogues tell the story of 14 people.

During the training, each participant will permanently play one of the 14 characters, and this new identity will allow him to actively get involved.

The first day of each lesson is the presentation of the text with the classical music in the background. The participants will follow the dialogue read by the teacher, check their comprehension while looking at the translation, and underline the points which they would like to go back to later on. This first reading of the text is artistic, the voice of the teacher being interlaced with the music, attributing to each sentence an affective content, accessing through this the long-term memory. The participants reread the text at home: at night before sleeping, and in the morning upon waking up; these two times being the most favorable since we are relaxed, thus more receptive. This reading in the anecdotal level is the only work required during the duration of the training.

On the second day, a great part of the lesson is spent in reviewing the dialogue. After the collective reading of each part of the text, the students participate in a series of varied, amusing and stimulating activities. The focus is on the communication in the group. The trainees speak, communicate and check their progress. Then comes the passive concert. Relaxed on their chairs, the trainees close their eyes and listen to a second reading of the text with a background of baroque music. The slow and solemn rhythm of the music makes them more accessible, because this creates a state of relaxed concentration.

The third day is reserved for the second phase of development. The activities go further than the dialogue, allowing the trainees to use the materials acquired in a freer fashion. Sketches, songs, jokes, usage of authentic documents enable them to use their creative faculties and learn about the civilization of the country. This fourth part is followed by a short evaluation making the trainees realize all of the things they’ve learned, letting them transition to the next lesson.

Each dialogue is thus worked on for 6 hours, together with a lot of different activities, divided in three days, during which unhoned capacities are put into use, and during which the non conscious perception of the participants are stimulated to allow an intensive and durable learning.

During the 70 hours, grammar review will be done regularly.